Liquid marking applicators and dispensers have been known. Such applicators and dispensers may be marking or highlighting instruments, which allow marking or highlighting of selected surface areas. The applicators may be disposable and allow repetitive use ink applications, and often have felt-type wicks saturated with marking ink or highlighting ink.
Other disposable, repetitive use applicators and dispensers, using eradicators for eradicating marking ink or highlighting ink and liquids, such as bleaching agents, have been known. These eradicator applicators and dispensers often have felt-type wicks saturated with marking ink or highlighting ink eradicators.
Marking instruments, which utilize a highlighting ink applicator at an end and an unrelated ball point ink applicator coaxially located at an opposing end, such as for writing or printing ink, have also been known.
There is a need for a liquid marking and eradicating instrument having therein a liquid marker and an eradicator opposingly located each to the other. The marking and eradicating instrument should be capable of overwriting and/or highlighting printed and other material and eradicating the overwritten and/or highlighted material from the printed material.
The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should contain therein means for eradicating markings made with the marking and eradicating instrument, such as may be made by marking ink and/or highlighting ink on printed and other surfaces, and enable a user, such as a student, for example, to selectively mark and/or highlight text while studying, and then selectively eradicate portions of the marked and/or highlighted text upon memorization of these selected portions of the text. The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should enable the user to return a textbook, for example, to an unblemished state, after the highlight has been eradicated. The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should provide a convenient marking and/or highlighting ink eradicator in a single marking instrument for portability, should be inexpensive to manufacture, attractive, convenient and easy to use, eliminate the need to carry and use more than one device for marking and/or highlighting and eradicating the markings and/or highlight, facilitate writing and eradicating highlight, provide easy access, and save time in the process of marking and/or highlighting and eradicating the highlight.
There is also a need for a method for a user, such as a student, to use non-borrowable reference materials in a library, temporarily mark and/or highlight portions of the reference materials while studying same, yet also be able to erase any marked and/or highlighted portions upon completion of studying the reference materials in the library.
The method should use, for example, a single marking instrument to apply visually ascertainable transparent highlighting ink and to subsequently apply an ink eradicator solution to selectively remove all or portions of the transparent highlighting ink, thus making it visually unascertainable, while leaving the underlying permanent inked text underneath visually ascertainable.
Different color changing apparatus and methods have been known. However, none of the color changing apparatus adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,558 (Miller) discloses color changing compositions for highlighters;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,282 (Miller) discloses color changing compositions;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,742 (Cancellieri) discloses an assembly or set of different color inks and an assembly of writing instruments;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,331 (Miller) discloses color changing compositions using acids;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,228 (Miller) discloses washable color changing compositions;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,470 (Brachman) discloses a color-changing marking composition system;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,647 (Snedeker) discloses a color-changing marking composition system;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,494 (Miller) discloses color changing compositions;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,637 (Cregg) discloses featuring information on a record using color;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,665 (Miller) discloses latent image compositions;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,282 (Miller) discloses color changing pan paint compositions;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,382 (Miller) discloses color changing compositions for use on non-porous surfaces; and
U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,388 (Miller) discloses color changing compositions.
Different color removal apparatus and methods have been disclosed. However, none of the color removal apparatus and methods adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,278 (Gardner) discloses a highlighting-ink remover applicator;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,131 (Gardner) discloses an ink removing applicator and ink removal method;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,488 (Maxwell) discloses a marker/anti-marker system;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,277,930 and 4,228,028 both (Lin) disclose a ball point pen, ink and eradicator system;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,845 (Griffiths) discloses a graphic arts ink and eradicator combination;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,471 (Hayduchok) discloses a kit having multicolored fluid dispenser markers together with eradicating fluid dispenser, stamps and stamp pad; and,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,171 (Mecke) discloses an ink eradicator for inks containing triaryl methane dyestuffs.
Other marking and erasing apparatus and methods have been disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,853 (Loftin) discloses erasable inks;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,174 (Imagawa) discloses an erasable ink composition;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,004,763 and 5,561,175 also (Imagawa discloses water base erasable ink compositions;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,216 (Nakanishi) discloses an ink composition;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,021 also (Nakanishi) discloses a water based erasable ink composition for use in marking pens;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,167 (Loftin) discloses a fiber marker having an erasable ink;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,316,574 and 5,324,764 both (Fujita disclose an erasable ink composition for writing on an impervious surface;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,940,628, 4,988,123 and 5,217,255 all (Lin) disclose an erasable system having marking surface and erasable ink composition;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,034 (Stary) discloses a marker and pen combination having transverse and longitudinally spaced tips;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,638 (Redmond) discloses a writing instrument for alternately writing in fluorescent transparent and non-transparent ink;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,156 (Eigen) discloses a constructed response method with invisible answer indicator for preventing cheating;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,203 (Schaefer) discloses a latent imaging and developer system;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,266 (Landis) discloses a mix and match invisible ink game;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,776 (Mott) discloses an aqueous permanent coloring composition for a marker;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,845 (Thompson) discloses an hybrid marking instrument and writing ink composition;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,618 (Wright) discloses an automated transaction system with modular print head having print authentication feature;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,286,061 (Behm) discloses a lottery ticket having validation data printed in developable invisible ink;
Design U.S. Pat. Nos. D340,947, D329,873 (Tu), U.S. Pat. Nos. D260,272, D300,331 (Horntrich), U.S. Pat. No. D295,537 (Davidson), U.S. Pat. No. D299,470 (Mock), U.S. Pat. Nos. D307,443, D307,601, D324,543, D325,599, D327,911, (Poisson), U.S. Pat. No. D309,913 (Shintani), U.S. Pat. No. D316,361 (Kieffer), U.S. Pat. No. D332,283 (Voorhees), U.S. Pat. Nos. D332,964, D334,023 (Giugiaro), all disclose various marking instruments;
Design U.S. Pat. No. D336,425 (Napora) discloses a double ended marking instruments;
Design U.S. Pat. No. D295,878 (Lovell) discloses a dual applicator marking instrument;
Design U.S. Pat. No. D306,316 (Shintani) discloses a twin-nibbed marking instrument;
Design U.S. Pat. No. D331,070 (Hu) discloses a casing for a marking instrument; and,
Design U.S. Pat. No. D279,992 (Gribb) discloses a dual tip marking instrument.
For the foregoing reasons there is a need for a liquid marking and eradicating instrument having therein a marker and/or highlighter and an eradicator opposingly located each to the other. The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should be capable of marking and/or highlighting printed and other material and eradicating the markings and/or highlight from the printed material.
The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should contain therein means to eradicate markings and/or highlight on printed and other surfaces, and enable a user, such as a student, for example, to selectively mark and/or highlight text while studying, and then selectively eradicate portions of the marked and/or highlighted text upon memorization of these selected portions of the text. The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should enable the user to return a textbook, for example, to an unblemished state, after the highlight has been eradicated. The liquid marking and eradicating instrument should provide a convenient marker and/or highlighting ink eradicator in a single marking instrument for portability, should be inexpensive to manufacture, attractive, easy and convenient to use, eliminate the need to carry and use more than one device for marking and/or highlighting and eradicating the markings and/or highlight, facilitate writing and eradicating markings and/or highlight, provide easy access, and save time in the process of marking and/or highlighting and eradicating the markings and/or highlight.
There is also a need for a method for a user, such as a student, to use non-borrowable reference materials in a library, temporarily mark and/or highlight portions of the reference materials while studying same, yet also be able to erase any marked and/or highlighted portions upon completion of studying the reference materials in the library.
The method may use a single marking instrument to apply visually ascertainable transparent highlighting ink and to subsequently apply an ink eradicator solution to selectively remove all or portions of the transparent highlighting ink, thus making it visually unascertainable, while leaving the underlying permanent inked text underneath visually ascertainable.